- US records hottest month as relentless July heat shatters records
Source: USA Today
“Unrelenting heat waves across the United States in July helped push the nation to its warmest month, breaking a 132-year-old record, federal officials say. The 76.9-degree average was 3.3 degrees above the 20th century average, according to the July climate summary released Aug. 10 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which tracks the nation’s weather and long-term climate. That temperature was a fraction warmer than records set in July 1936 and July 2012. Though daytime temperatures were blazing hot and disrupted many of the festivities around the nation’s 250th anniversary, it was the overnight temperatures that proved most extreme, soaring above the record set in July 2022 by 0.7 degrees. The U.S. records mirror a pattern seen across many parts of the world in July.” (08/11/26)
- Four crew killed in Red Sea attack while missile strike reported in Gulf
Source: Reuters
“Four crew members were killed in an attack by Iran-backed Houthis on a small cargo ship in the Bab el-Mandeb strait on Tuesday, Yemen’s [Saudi puppet] transport ministry said, while sources reported a missile attack on a container ship off Pakistan in a suspected U.S. strike. The fatalities aboard the Egyptian-owned Tihamah, if confirmed, would mark the first deaths in a Houthi strike on shipping since the Iran war began on February 28. The Houthis have not claimed the attack. Three Pakistanis and one Indonesian were killed, the Yemeni [Saudi puppet] ministry said, adding the crew lost control of the vessel after being attacked. Three coastguard personnel were injured after being targeted by a drone while trying to rescue the crew, Yemeni military sources said. The Houthis declared a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea on July 20 in response to what they described as a Saudi siege.” (08/11/26)
https://www.reuters.com/world/china/three-killed-attacks-ships-red-sea-gulf-sources-say-2026-08-11/
- NY: State will hide identities of jury members in Mangione trial
Source: NBC News
“Luigi Mangione appeared in a New York courtroom Tuesday where plans were nearly finalized for his state murder trial next month, including the judge’s ruling that the jury of Manhattan residents will be anonymous. Mangione, 28, has pleaded not guilty to several state charges in connection with the December 2024 fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside the New York Hilton Midtown. … Carro also said there would be expanded media and public access to the trial. After fielding complaints from Mangione’s defense team about potential space limitations, court administrators arranged for an overflow room.” [editor’s note: If the jurors’ identities aren’t known the the public, how can the public know the jury wasn’t stacked? – TLK] (08/11/26)
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/luigi-mangione-returns-court-less-month-state-trial-rcna591890
- Hungary: Parliament approves Orban-critic judge as president
Source: South China Morning Post [Hong Kong]
“Hungarian lawmakers on Tuesday approved former supreme court chief Andras Baka, a critic of Viktor Orban who was fired during the ex-premier’s time in power, as the country’s next head of state. The post became vacant following the contested removal last month of the previous president, an Orban ally, as pro-EU conservative Prime Minister Peter Magyar pushes to loosen his predecessor’s lingering hold over state institutions. Parliament, where the ruling Tisza party holds a two-thirds majority, elected Baka – who served 17 years as a judge on the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) – with 140 votes in favour and six votes against. Tisza on Saturday nominated Baka, 73, for the largely ceremonial role.” (08/11/26)
- Trump Media’s Quarterly Loss Widens to $238 Million From $20 Million a Year Earlier
Source: US News & World Report
“Trump Media & Technology Group, founded by U.S. President Donald Trump and known for its Truth Social platform, reported a wider second-quarter loss, largely due to unrealized losses tied to its cryptocurrency assets. Its second-quarter net loss jumped to $238.1 million from about $20 million a year earlier, the company said in a statement. Digital assets, including cryptocurrencies, came under pressure during the April-to-June quarter as investors shunned riskier assets amid uncertainty over U.S. interest rates, geopolitical tensions and persistent outflows from crypto investment products.” [editor’s note: The guy went bankrupt running a casino, which is the second-closest thing to a license to print money. The closest thing is a corrupt White House and he apparently can’t make even THAT work. He seems to be about as good at business, and in the same way, as he is at golf – TLK] (08/11/26)
- SCOTUS: Alito knocked down big bucks on oil, gas investments
Source: The Guardian [UK]
“The supreme court justice Samuel Alito gained up to $2.9m from his fossil fuel interests between 2005 and 2024, a new review of financial disclosures shows. The analysis from the non-profit advocacy group and judicial watchdog Court Accountability, shared exclusively with the Guardian, found that even at the lowest range of estimates, Alito gained almost $400,000 from his oil and gas interests since being tapped for the high court by George W Bush in 2005. The findings come as the supreme court prepares to take up a case in which the oil companies Suncor Energy and Exxon asked the justices to find that federal law prevents subnational governments from filing lawsuits against fossil fuel producers for the climate-warming effects of their products. … Court Accountability and other groups have called for a Senate committee to investigate Alito, the sole supreme court justice with holdings in energy companies, and said he should recuse himself. He and the court rejected those calls.” (08/11/26)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/11/samuel-alito-oil-gas-assets-supreme-court-analysis
- Syria: Assad sentenced to death in absentia at trial
Source: CBC News [Canadian state media]
“A Syrian court sentenced ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad along with his younger brother to death in absentia on Tuesday for crimes against humanity and war crimes during Syria’s 14-year conflict that left about half a million people dead. The sentences at the Fourth Criminal Court in Damascus are the first against Assad or members of his inner circle since the family’s five decades in power came to an end 20 months ago. … Also sentenced to death in the same case was Assad’s maternal cousin Atef Najib, who was convicted of overseeing a crackdown in the southern province of Daraa that led to the uprising and later the civil war.” (08/11/26)
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/syria-assads-najib-sentences-9.7302765
- Russia: US Marine veteran freed from prison after nearly four years
Source: CBS News
“Russia has released an American military veteran who spent more than four years in prison, President Trump said Tuesday, days after a group advocating for his freedom said he was gravely ill. Mr. Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to release Robert Gilman on a ‘humanitarian basis’ and that ‘Russia asked for no one in return.’ … Gilman, a 32-year-old teacher from Lowell, Massachusetts, had been detained since 2022. He was initially handed a 3 1/2-year sentence in 2022 when he was convicted of beating a police officer after being taken off a train for causing a disturbance.” (08/11/26)
- Libya: Drone strike sparks massive blaze at refinery
Source: ABC News
“Firefighters in western Libya fought Tuesday to extinguish the remnants of a massive fire caused by a drone strike on an oil facility, and a car bomb killed a senior military officer in the country’s east, in the latest attacks in the chaos-stricken North African nation. The drone hit a gasoline tank at the Zawiya oil refinery in the Mediterranean town of Zawiya on Monday, about 47 kilometers (about 30 miles) west of capital Tripoli, the state-run National Oil Corporation said. … Monday’s strikes were the latest in a series of drone attacks on oil infrastructure in Zawiya, which houses critical energy infrastructure including the country’s largest oil refinery, an export terminal and a power plant. … The attacks come as tensions are rising between the government of western Libya and a warlord who controls the city of Zawiya.” (08/11/26)
- The Jones Act Trap: Why Temporary Shipping Waivers Prove Protectionism Fails
Source: Karl Dickey’s Freedom Vanguard
by Karl Dickey“Most Americans have never heard of the Jones Act, which is a protectionist law that has been on the books for over 100 years with the intent to protect U.S. based shipping and shipbuilding, put in place after World War I. As with many U.S. laws, it has backfired on the American people and business, with higher costs to consumers for their goods and energy. I argue that government should just get out of the way and let the free market run, which benefits both consumers and business. Now, the Trump administration has extended its 90-day waiver of the Jones Act, allowing foreign-flagged shipping vessels to transport fuel and energy commodities between U.S. ports (The Hindu). This 90-day waiver exposes the reality that the Jones Act helps to lower energy costs for Americans and helps to prevent economic bottlenecks, confirming my assertion to let the free market run.” (08/11/26)
https://palmbeachexaminer.substack.com/p/the-jones-act-trap-why-temporary
- “Town Hall” Pageants Lose Their Luster for Politicians
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp“The purpose of political events these days isn’t so much retail public engagement as it is the production of sound bites for campaign use that’s more controlled and enjoys more reach than a huddle with a few citizens at a high school auditorium. But the main reason for real, physical, local ‘town hall aversion’ is the possibility of embarrassing confrontations with the angry sector of the public in question. And there’s ALWAYS an angry sector of the public, no matter which party the politician in question affiliates with or what policy positions that politician takes. We’ve all seen it on TV. In fact, it’s generally the only part of a ‘town hall’ event we ever DO see on TV outside of actual campaign ads.” (08/11/26)
- Trump’s Iran War Raises a Midterm Question: Who Decides When America Goes to War?
Source: Antiwar.com
by Peter Rodgers“Washington has long debated individual interventions while paying less attention to the expanding presidential authority that made them possible. Trump did not create this system; he inherited it. His presidency, however, exposed how much war-making power has accumulated in the executive branch and how far the country has moved from the constitutional balance the founders envisioned. The Constitution’s principle is clear: decisions about war should not rest with one person. The president is commander in chief, but Congress received the authority to declare war because the framers feared concentrated power.” (08/11/26)
- What’s Worse — Authoritarian Capitalism or Democratic Socialism?
Source: The Daily Economy
by Alex Tokarev, Gabriel F. Benzecry, & Kristin Tokarev“ou’ve no doubt heard the horrifying stories of dictators who abused their people for personal gain or sheer cruelty. Stalin’s Great Purge, Mao’s engineered famine, and Pinochet’s brutal torture of dissidents are just a few notorious examples. If all dictatorships are hell, a difficult question remains: which offers the better odds of survival, or even prosperity? Is it a dictatorship that tolerates some free-market capitalism, or one built on socialism?” (08/11/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/whats-worse-authoritarian-capitalism-or-democratic-socialism/
- Countries are hiding censorship in “cybercrime” bills. A UN treaty could make things worse.
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
by Sarah McLaughlin“Late last year, the United Kingdom, France, China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and dozens more nations signed the United Nations Convention Against Cybercrime, a treaty ostensibly intended to improve global cooperation to fight crimes taking place over computer systems. Canada joined them this summer. The United States remains a notable exception and says it is still reviewing the treaty. Three nations have since ratified it, and the treaty will enter into force 90 days after 40 states do so. As FIRE has long warned, the treaty opens the door to greater violations of free expression online — and new cybercrime bills popping up around the world show why.” (08/11/26)
- Socialism moves into the mainstream; the warning signs are all here
Source: Fox News Forum
by Jeremy Hunt“For the 333 million Americans who don’t live in New York City, there are plenty of reasons not to care what goes on there. It doesn’t affect our day-to-day lives. New Yorkers democratically elected their socialist leader. It’s their bed, let them lie in it. Or as the mainstream media likes to put it, it’s probably just hyped-up right-wing hysteria. And of course, that’s exactly how the communists in our country want us to think. But right now may be the most important moment to push back. It’s incumbent on all of us to resist the normalization of socialism in America. Speak up now, so that what’s radical in New York today doesn’t become the norm in your neighborhood tomorrow. And to be clear, there are plenty of radical things going on in New York right now.” (08/11/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/socialism-moves-mainstream-warning-signs-here
- Sentinel, or the case of the high price of technical delivery risk
Source: Niskanen Center
by Mark Lerner“The Federal Bureau of Investigations launched Sentinel in 2005 with an expanded budget and intensified project management discipline. With the active involvement of at least 18 concurrent oversight and governance bodies — the Government Accountability Office, the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General, and numerous congressional committees among them — what could go wrong? Turns out, quite a lot. Sentinel rapidly degraded into an unusable product that threatened to waste hundreds of millions of dollars.” (08/11/26)
https://www.niskanencenter.org/sentinel-or-the-case-of-the-high-price-of-technical-delivery-risk/
- Is liberal democracy dead? Here’s a new answer.
Source: Washington Post
by Julia Cartwright“On June 16, 1989, a bearded 26-year-old stood before a quarter million Hungarians in Budapest and demanded that Soviet troops leave his country. His fearless call for free elections helped bring down communism in Hungary. The young firebrand was Viktor Orban. Twenty-five years later, he proudly announced he was building an ‘illiberal state.’ What happened in between is a microcosm of what has happened to liberal democracy itself. That story gives Daron Acemoglu’s new book ‘What Happened to Liberal Democracy?’ its urgency.” (08/11/26)
- Before we move on from “Woke 1”, Lefties like AOC need to answer some questions
Source: New York Post
by Karol Markowicz“Remember the early 2020s when cancel culture ran rampant, defunding police was a standard position on the left and we were all supposed to fall in line with their bad ideas, or else? Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wants us to pretend it all went away. AOC took to ‘This Week with Jonathan Karl’ on ABC to defend Francesca Hong, the latest Democratic Socialist star, running for governor of Wisconsin. In 2020, Hong said Thanksgiving should be canceled, claiming it’s ‘a time that’s incredibly painful for people’ in her community. Now that she wants to get elected, Hong suddenly called Thanksgiving her ‘favorite holiday’. AOC argued that Hong has ‘moved away’ from some of her more controversial positions then giggled that she agreed with NYC Councilman Chi Ossé, who had said, ‘Woke 1 was crazyyyy’. Tee-hee, woke 1, you guys!” (08/10/26)
- When 20th-Century Regulations Meet 21st-Century Streaming
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Cláudia Ascensão Nunes“If a regulator struggles to decide whether a live transmission on YouTube should be considered ‘television,’ the real problem may not be the platform, but the rules and the state’s insistence on continuing to apply them.” (08/11/26)
https://fee.org/articles/when-20th-century-regulations-meet-21st-century-streaming/
- “Niceness as Whiteness”: Professors Denounce Niceness as White Privilege
Source: Jonathan Turley
by Jonathan Turley“We have previously discussed how many professors seem to compete in finding new forms of racism in every facet of society and education. Astrophysics, math, runoffs, science, statistics, and meritocracy have all been denounced as racist. In this academic cottage industry, professors secure publications and speaking opportunities by identifying racism in expressions, images, or entire fields. Even time itself has been declared racist. Now, however, academics have found another undiscovered continent of white privilege: niceness. When I saw a story in The College Fix on a study of ‘niceness as Whiteness,’ I was skeptical and decided to take a look.” (08/11/26)
- The Case for a Liberalism That Dares Again
Source: The UnPopulist
by Joshua Reed Eakle“In the contemporary imagination, liberalism means different things to different people. To some on the left, it means a set of deceptive platitudes masking an eventual, inevitable collaboration with fascists. To those on the populist right, it stands for out-of-touch technocracy, woke identity politics, and globalization hollowing out rural and industrial America. To many less ideological voters, it simply stands for the status quo and existing institutions—a status quo that many believe, or can be convinced to believe, is just not working for them. What liberalism isn’t, for the most part, is appealing. Liberalism is in peril not because of philosophical defects or better available alternatives, but because liberals have too often struggled to make liberalism seem attractive, compelling, and exciting.” (08/11/26)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/the-case-for-a-liberalism-that-dares
- Young people bid for online agency
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff“Keeping pace with new developments in the world of social media and artificial intelligence is no easy task. Almost as challenging is keeping up with the slew of regulatory, judicial, and civil society actions seeking greater transparency from Big Tech into the design parameters, data extraction, and internal research behind social media apps used extensively by children and adolescents. Last Wednesday, a U.S. Senate committee unanimously advanced the Kids Online Safety Act, which would mandate default privacy settings and require ‘reasonable care’ when designing platforms to minimize potential harm to minors. The next day, a New Mexico court fined Meta $567 million to address harms it knowingly caused to young people through design features of its Facebook and Instagram platforms. The range of recent and pending laws and legal actions is notable for a few key reasons.” (08/10/26)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Editorials/the-monitors-view/2026/0810/Young-people-bid-for-online-agency
- Deep Capture
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Sofia Karstens“[Woodrow] Wilson’s central argument was that government should be split into two separate domains: politics, where elected officials set broad goals and policy direction, and administration, a technical, expert-driven sphere that should be run with ‘large powers and unhampered discretion’ and insulated from day-to-day political interference. Wilson suggested that government ought to be removed from the political process…in other words: ‘Democracy is too important to be left to voters.'” (08/11/26)
- Sullivan Revisited
Source: Law & Liberty
by Glenn Reynolds“The outcome of the famous libel case rests on fabricated legal foundations.” (08/11/26)
- The Guardian proves that renewables are not, in fact, cheaper
Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Tim Worstall“[R]enewables are not cheaper than fossil fuels. If they were then we’d not even have a climate change problem in the first place – everyone would just be naturally scrambling for the now cheaper option and the problem would go away. Which does mean that every plan, every insistence, every fine and policy imposed is proof that renewables are not cheaper. Could even still be worthwhile, but not cheaper.” (08/11/26)
https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/the-guardian-proves-that-renewables-are-not-in-fact-cheaper
- What Bank ATMs Teach Us About AI
Source: Town Hall
by Stephen Moore“New inventions and technologies, from the lightbulb to the farm tractor to the automobile to the laptop computer to Uber drivers, cause serious job market disruptions. They also cause a backlash, as horse and buggy operators, cab drivers, video rental stores, and typewriter makers inevitably predicted chaos and job losses. Artificial intelligence will make life much better and healthier for most people, but it will bring massive disruptions, too. What will happen to the people whose livelihoods are jeopardized by what ChatGPT or Claude can do faster, cheaper, and better? It is a fair question. But let’s look at one of the inventions of the past several decades that we almost all use routinely: the automated teller machine.” (08/11/26)
https://townhall.com/columnists/stephenmoore/2026/08/11/what-bank-atms-teach-us-about-ai-n2681017
- Substance Beats Labels in Fighting Marxism
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Wanjiru Njoya“In a recent controversy over ideological indoctrination at the Smithsonian museum, one member of staff mockingly said, ‘I didn’t realize all my colleagues were Marxists.’ The implication is that their critics are using the label ‘Marxist’ to denote any historical interpretations with which they disagree. The museum’s staff insist that their only goal is to offer an ‘inclusive’ portrayal of history. Similarly, many who support diversity, equity, and inclusiveness do not necessarily see themselves as neo-Marxists, even though they promote the tenets of cultural Marxism.” (08/11/26)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/substance-beats-labels-fighting-marxism
- Do Hegseth’s Reforms to Military Universities Go Far Enough?
Source: The American Conservative
by Kelley Beaucar Vlahos“In his crusade to exorcise ‘wokeness’ from the military and imbue it with a new spirit of lethality, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is waging battles on the nation’s storied war colleges and service academies. But is he fighting the wrong war? … While no one who spoke to us believes there is a place for intrusive diversity, equity, and inclusion requirements or social engineering at these institutions, they agreed the attention should be on the schools’ broader inability to produce exceptional leaders who win wars—rather than ambitious yes-men with soft critical thinking skills who, despite losing records, collect stars, pensions, and lucrative post-service second careers with all the entitlement of entrenched bureaucrats.” (08/11/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/do-hegseths-reforms-to-military-universities-go-far-enough/
- Action Figures and the Balance of Payments
Source: EconLog
by Art Carden“In the run-up to the 2024 election, many people claimed that, in ‘Econ 101,’ GDP goes down when imports increase because the last part of the GDP equation is Net Exports (exports – imports). This demonstrates a failure to understand precisely what GDP measures and why net exports appear at the end of the equation. Gross Domestic Product is a measure of the economy’s total value added, and measuring value added is pretty complicated in a global economy where almost everything we buy has ‘value added’ somewhere other than the United States, and many things people in foreign countries buy reflect value that was added in the United States.” (08/11/26)
https://www.econlib.org/econlog/action-figures-and-the-balance-of-payments
- What Trump Should Say to the Nation to Truly Become a Peace President
Source: Common Dreams
by Martin Halpern“Almost 60 years ago, in his book Vietnam: The Logic of Withdrawal, historian Howard Zinn wrote a speech for Lyndon Johnson in which the then president announced a withdrawal and the end of the US attempt to control Vietnam. Unfortunately, Johnson did not embrace Zinn’s sensible approach. Instead, he announced the end of his reelection bid, and the US war effort continued for another six years, with the signing of the Paris Peace Agreement, or eight years, with the ending of the war and the reunification of Vietnam. President Donald Trump is at least as concerned as Johnson about not looking like a loser. So, my effort to compose a speech for Trump certainly seems like a quixotic effort. … Here is the speech I think Trump should deliver.” (08/11/26)
- Cato Podcast, 08/11/26
Source: Cato Institute
“The Eternal Quest for More Tariffs.” (08/11/26)
https://www.cato.org/multimedia/cato-podcast/eternal-quest-more-tariffs
- Rising, 08/11/26
Source: The Hill
“AOC is lying about wokeness—she enforced it ruthlessly!” (08/11/26)
- Parallax Views w/ JG Michael, 08/11/26
Source: Parallax Views w/ JG Michael
“Inside Israel’s Big-Budget Campaign of Direct Foreign Influence w/ Nick Cleveland-Stout.” (08/11/26)
- Capital Record, episode 318
Source: National Review
“The Common Good, Pornography, Gambling, and You.” (08/11/26)
https://www.nationalreview.com/podcasts/capital-record/the-common-good-pornography-gambling-and-you/
- Ron Paul Liberty Report, 08/11/26
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“Trump To Iran: ‘Compensation? YOU Owe US Compensation!'” (08/11/26)
- Show-Me Institute Podcast, 08/11/26
Source: Show-Me Institute
“The Rising Appeal of Socialism in America with Emily Ekins.” (08/11/26)
- The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 08/11/26
Source: The New Republic
“Trump Approval Hits Another New Low—and Even GOP Pollsters Are Rattled.” (08/11/26)
- The Good Fight, 08/11/26
Source: Yascha Mounk
“Adam Bodnar on Why Defeating Populists at the Ballot Box Isn’t Enough.” (08/11/26)
- Advisory Opinions, 08/11/26
Source: The Dispatch
“SCOTUS’s October Preview.” (08/11/26)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/advisoryopinions/scotuss-october-preview/
- Fountainhead Forum, episode 477
Source: Fountainhead Forum
“Hannah Henriksen on what libertarian activists can learn from sports.” (08/11/26)